


Swim to Shore

by gracca_amorosa



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other, friendship!, merfolk, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 05:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16867354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracca_amorosa/pseuds/gracca_amorosa
Summary: A swim on the beach with a new friend!





	Swim to Shore

You’ve been meaning to go swimming for months. Spring had been unusually warm and now summer was bright and crisp like a leaf edge - and the encroaching fall months were promising to be just as lovely.

You pass the beach every day on the bus and you stare longingly at it, missing the feeling of hot sand and salt water. 

Eventually you manage to schedule a day off, a day free from any other distraction to go swimming at your favorite spot. You pack towel, sunscreen, large floppy hat (with large floppy knit flower, made and attached by yourself), and book, science fiction, one of. You check and recheck to make sure you have everything you need, and you take off.

You get on the bus and know exactly the stop you need to get off at, a little cove well-guarded by cliff and not much travelled, but you find yourself snapping awake much later than that - at least you had to assume it was much later, even though the sun was only a little lower in the sky. You were in a part of town you didn’t recognize despite living here for most of your life, but you do recognize the ocean sitting blue behind the buildings so you decide to get off at the next stop.

The bus stop sat at a curve in the road, one far away from most of the bigger business buildings. Turning your back on them, you could easily forget that they existed: before you was a green hill that tumbled down until it hit a road, and then the sea, and the buildings here looked older than in your usual part of town. With a smile, you finally move forward. Your walk to the beach was peaceful, striding between warm stone buildings and smelling the salt on the air.

You find the beach no problem, and smile at how empty it is. The white beach reflected light and made the whole scene brighter, and to your right a rocky cliff rose up and hid the other curve of the beach. There was not a person to be seen and not a footprint in the sand, and you are amazed at your luck. You begin to follow the curve of the sand, sinking in just a little, but as you round the corner of a rocky overlook you trip over yourself in shock.

Sitting right in front of you, clear as day, is what you have to assume is a mer-person. Their long tail flips water up and down in an arc over their slender body, slender but huge, easily three times as large as a human. Their scales shimmer in the sunlight and you can’t help but stare, mouth open. They were opalescent, and you do not know if you could describe their color to anyone else except in the names of jewels. Their fins stuck out from their body before cascading down again, curling and waving, their length dramatic. She could tell that their mouth was larger than normal, lips parting almost to the ears although its mouth was not open now. Gills fluttered on their neck, speeding up when they saw her approach, and then fall. As their yellow eyes slide over to you, you struggle to stand. 

“Hello!” you call out, not sure what else to do but wanting to get closer to this beautiful creature.

They don’t talk, it seems, but they raise one clawed hand in greeting, so you feel much more confident walking over to them. They are large, gleaming, and beautiful. They are hypnotic.

You can see the gentle rustle of their many leafy fins as you approach and this makes your heart feel lighter than air. 

The smile you share is genuine, and you spread out your towel next to them and they begin to sprinkle you gently with water too. You are not sure why you feel so safe with this creature but you do, and you are not willing to leave its side. 

You want nothing more than to be with it in this moment.

You sit by each other quietly, but it’s not an awkward silence. You watch their gently undulating fins and they watch you sunbathing, and it’s a good and gentle moment, a rest for the mind and body both in the company of this creature.

After a while you decide you do want to get into the water after all, and you stand and stretch. The yellow eyes follow you with curiosity, and you can see the fins flare more as you walk towards the water. The mer-person slides around to their belly and claws their way to the water, looking at you the whole time, a smile on their face and fins practically vibrating with excitement.

As you step in the water they slide in beside you and take your small hand in their large one and pulls you in towards them. They hold you close to their chest and you two share another warm smile in the cool ocean water. You float here for a long time, until you see your hands prune and then longer, pressed into the silky smoothness of their scales. You drift in and out of sleep, the cool water and the warm sun mixing headily into a sleeping potion that you do not want to fight. But eventually the creature slides back to the shore and lays you down on your back. You blink up at the stars and do not say anything, knowing that you will not get a conventional response even if you tried.

You sit up eventually, slow and groggy, and look around for your companion but do not see them. If it wasn’t for the imprint of large scales on your arms and chest where you lay against them you would believe you imagined the whole thing – but you didn’t imagine it. 

You catch the last bus home, this time staying awake and getting off at the correct spot. In your apartment you look at yourself, see if you have changed. You have grown more tan, your hair is still wet from the sea, and across your arms and cheek are the imprint from large scales that do not ever fade.


End file.
